Infuriating. Honestly.

[Thundar]

Yep. Correct response would have been, "Yeah, that bass did sound great. I wish I could help you, but we're not Ibanez dealers. You might try X shop on the other side of town, they sell Ibanez over there. How did you like that combo?"

Couldn't agree more! I have experienced local shops running down brands they don't carry numerous times, and it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth...but I have also witnessed them take a guitar or bass of that same brand in on trade and turn around and tell you what an outstanding instrument it is. I've been treated pretty sh!++y in both GC's and mom and pop stores alike...one of them I havent been back to in over 10 years.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

You can make a living selling 'em easier than playing 'em.

True. I just play for fun. You know, cause no one will pay me

 

[Max Blasto]

I used to manage a really great independent shop that carried great lines, and offered outstanding service. As I said, this shows the reason why so many (not all) GREAT small shops have closed. Not because of their customer service, not because of attitudes, etc. But because the test-drivers are out numbering the supporting, loyal customers nowadays by a factor of 10.

But that's not what this scenario shows at all.
It shows why so many _lousy_ shops have closed.
It also shows that showrooming can have nothing to do with why businesses close.

The store in this scenario can't be an example of a "GREAT" store, because it didn't offer good customer service or good salesmanship. That's not "great" that's lousy.
The store in this scenario didn't lose business to online sales because of showrooming, it lost sales because of poor customer service. That's self-inflicted.

I have quite a bit of experience in store management too, and if I saw my clerk do that, it would be one of those "hey, kid, can I talk to you for a minute" moments. This has nothing to do with Brick & Mortar (which you haven't successfully demonstrated the intrinsic value of) and everything to do with business practices in general.

Compete or die.

 

[tfer]

I won't ever purchase an instrument without playing it first. And the one I buy, is the one I played.

And I never buy used.

Brick and mortar stores for me.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

For what it is worth, I would have kicked OP out too.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

If that infuriated you, I'd suggest staying off of Facebook. Life is too short to let other people's petty BS ruin my day. I've got my own petty BS to deal with .

But the OP merely stumbled across this post in his feed. It's not about Facebook at all. He could have read about this in a magazine or had a face to face conversation about this subject with someone. But you definitely have a point. And this is exactly why I am not on Facebook!

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

I like to believe there are two sides to every story. The shops version would probably differ some from the post OP quoted. However if the guy tried to order an expensive Ibanez through a shop and they wouldn't comply with him, that is totally on the shop.

 

[TripleDouble]

You know what puts burning bees in my bonnet? Why nobody buys traan oil from my whale blubber products outpost anymore. I mean, I'm just trying to make an honest living here the only way I know how, and all these darned lectricty corporations are making it danged hard! Life is so unfair!

 

[paddydaddyo]

@Max Blasto : Great stores have closed, lousy store have remained open, whatever. I didn't say that the store in question was great, actually maybe it is ... maybe it just has one lousy salesman, who knows? My commentary (again) was not about the customer service (or lack there of) that this guy did or didn't get. It was about the "showroom test drive" mentality of the vast majority of purchasers. If one reads what I have posted, I think they would see that.

 

[pcake]

if a store dissed a bass i just told him i liked enough to buy, insulting the entire brand isn't likely to make me feel warm and fuzzy. for that matter,, even if i hadn't brought up ibanez, i still really like them, and insulting them would have made me not want to go back. first, because he doesn't know what he's talking about, as ibanez basses are really good stuff. their acoustic guitars aren't too good, so maybe he's basing what he said on them, but that would mean he's never played an ibanez bass and yet is making blanket negative statements about them.

also because as a person working with the public, some diplomacy never hurts. risking insulting your customers' tastes aren't a great way to make them want to come back.

I like to believe there are two sides to every story. The shops version would probably differ some from the post OP quoted. However if the guy tried to order an expensive Ibanez through a shop and they wouldn't comply with him, that is totally on the shop.

but if the shop isn't an ibanez dealer, they couldn't order the bass for the guy. or rather, they could have ordered it like any customer, but they would have paid full price and couldn't have offered the customer a warranty.

 

[nutdog]

@Max Blasto : Great stores have closed, lousy store have remained open, whatever. I didn't say that the store in question was great, actually maybe it is ... maybe it just has one lousy salesman, who knows? My commentary (again) was not about the customer service (or lack there of) that this guy did or didn't get. It was about the "showroom test drive" mentality of the vast majority of purchasers. If one reads what I have posted, I think they would see that.

I get your point and I imagine most of us agree. But no one in your story was trying something out at the store they were planning to buy online. It's possible the guy with the ibanez was going to try to save a buck by buying the combo online if he liked it but that's not implied.

 

[RustyAxe]

Some small shop owners don't have a clue. There's one local shop I won't ever visit again. It's mostly band instruments and rentals, but he tries to be a guitar shop. While looking for some finger picks, in conversation I let it be known that I owned several XXX acoustic guitars. I'm talking a well known brand, and quite upscale. He then goes on to tell me why he doesn't carry them ... they're over-rated, over-priced, etc, etc. I look at the sub-$500 acoustic on his wall, the ones that have been hanging there for six months and more. I told him the reason he doesn't sell XXX guitars is because he can't afford the buy-in. Period. And the reason he doesn't sell more guitars is because he doesn't KNOW guitars, nor does he understand the market. What an idiot. But ... there are a few shops around these parts with people who know and love acoustic guitars, and they get my business. I've never bought a guitar from GC, MF, Music123, Zzounds, or any of the online dealers. Always play before I pay.

 

[Fat Steve]

There was absolutely zero eveidence of show-rooming in the anecdote detailed in the OP. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The only wrong that occured in the OP was abhorrent customer service. Period.

 

[petrus61]

Shop worker is an idiot, but kind of harsh for the guy to say the other bass was playing "like junk" when it probably needed a setup and was an apple/oranges comparison to begin with. Kinda like driving up to the Yamaha dealership in a Harley wanting to know why all the bikes perform so differently from the one you're riding and why don't they sell one like it.

 

[HubbardsFate]

One or two people have brought up the "adapt or die" scenario, and I can't say I disagree. I live in a city a (well...a city by Canadian standards, plus/minus 72, 000 people) that has three brick n' mortar stores, including Long & McQuade, AKA Canada's Guitar Center, the other two are independents. I can go on the L & M website and search for specific models of basses currently stocked at specific locations, but I can't do that on the websites of the other two...although they do list the brands that they carry, it would be nice to check their websites to see what, exactly, they have in stock at any specific time. The one independent shop hasn't even updated their Facebook page since 2010/2011, to give you an idea of how little they seem to care about having an online presence, and their actual website is borderline primitive by today's standards.

I guess I am describing a "first-world problem", especially given that none of these places are more than a twenty-minute drive from my house, but let's be honest, convenience is king these days, and there is nothing more convenient than window shopping online. Having said that, I am currently very tempted to pull the trigger on a Godin Shifter Classic 4. My choices are (A) order online, (B) order via the local L & M (I know from searching their website that they don't have one actually hanging at the local store), or (C) order via the one independent shop here that deals in Godin products. My choice is likely to be (C), because I try to support local stores when possible, and because I like the store/staff...and that would be the case even if I could save myself a few bucks by ordering online...key word "few"...if I could save myself, I dunno, a couple of hundred dollars, well...

EDIT: I realize, though, that not all brick n' mortars, especially small, independent shops, can afford to have a big online presence with all the latest interactive features...

 

[paddydaddyo]

I get your point and I imagine most of us agree. But no one in your story was trying something out at the store they were planning to buy online. It's possible the guy with the ibanez was going to try to save a buck by buying the combo online if he liked it but that's not implied.

The would-be Fender purchaser, for one.

 

[Tom Howland]

I've been kicked out of GC many times for telling customers about a better bass, for less money.
I hear you.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

You guys OP brings his own bass in tells a guy he can buy it online and all this, it is kind of disrespectful to the store. He cost them a sale.

 

[nutdog]

The would-be Fender purchaser, for one.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong. I thought he was buying a Fender, then tried to buy the Ibanez from the store but they don't sell them. Not the same as trying out the fender and then ordering the fender from sweetwater.

I agree it was bad form for combo guy to mention sweetwater/no shipping/no tax but on the other hand he just heard the clerk make a ridiculous statement about ibanez quality.

 

[InhumanResource]

I just had a post pop up in my FB feed that really has me quite ticked off. The guy wrote:

"So, I went to a local music shop to check out a new bass combo amp. I brought my SR1405TE.
While I was playing, a guy is picking up his brand new Fender American Custom 5 string. I noticed him repeatedly looking my way. I wasn't doing anything fancy, just checking out the amp tone. He walked over to me and was listening intently. He asked me what bass I had. I showed him and offered to let him try it. He played it for a good 10 minutes and gave it back to me. He was a pretty good player. He asked me a few questions about it, especially about the Nordstrand pickups. After the short conversation he walked back to the counter with the new Fender bass and told the clerk that he didn't want it and instead wanted to order an SR1405. The clerk said that they didn't carry Ibanez products because they weren't very good instruments. The guy told the clerk that he may have thought they weren't good but that SR1405 made the Fender feel and sound like junk in comparison. He asked me where I got mine and I told him "on-line from Sweetwater with free shipping and no tax."
The clerk asked me to take my bass and leave the store....

Another Ibanez convert is born...."

As a former manager of a musical instrument store, this post shows EXACTLY the reason why so many GREAT small shops have closed their doors. No respect for the fact that people are trying to run a business and make a living,all the while providing a true service for their customers ... and have to put up with "test drivers" that come in to plunk away for hours, only to bargain shop online when it is time for the actual purchase. Infuriating.

What? why does that guy owe the store a purchase? That store is losing business because they won't adapt. The customer lucked out and found a better product. The shop could have answered with "I appreciate your business and will happily sell you an Ibanez if you don't mind waiting for me to get you one." Sorry if this is covered elsewhere in the thread, but I couldn't get that far. Snub the brand on your own time, not on the business's time.